Buyla inscription

The prevailing opinion is that the language of the text is the West Old Turkic (and thus distinct from both Old Turkic and the ancestor of the modern-day Common Turkic languages), and several translations have been proposed, but it has not been deciphered and the exact classification of the language has been a subject of debate. Vilhelm Thomsen translated the inscription: "Boila zoapan finished this bowl [this drinking cup], which Boutaoul zoapan made suitable for hanging up." Nikola Mavrodinov translated it: "Bouila zoapan made this cup; Boutaul Zoapan made this cup suitable for drinking from." Gyula Németh translated it: "Boila chaban's bowl, which was made to his order; Boutaoul had a buckle made for it, and this is his bowl." Paul Lazăr Tonciulescu translated it: "Jupan Buila [has] all rights, jupan Butaul [has the right of] entering [in] all towns.

Description

The treasure of Nagyszentmiklós

The treasure of Nagyszentmiklós, of which the bowl is a part, consists of 23 decorated gold vessels weighing around 10 kg. It was found in 1799 on the banks of the Aranca river, near Nagyszentmiklós (today Sânnicolau Mare in Timiș County, Romania), in the region of Pannonian Avars settlement in the Carpathian Basin. It was also attributed to the lower Danube Bulgars, and Pechenegs (generally not accepted), but the current view is that the treasure is most probably of Avar origin and closely related to the Avar culture.

The objects were made by specialized craftsmen in the 7th and 8th centuries and were hoarded by local lords. The treasure was last "used" and buried in the second half of the 8th century or perhaps in the early 9th century.

Some of the vessels bear runiform inscriptions. Similar characters can be found on a bone needlecase excavated in the Late Avar cemetery of Szarvas (in Békés County, Hungary) and dated to the second half of the 8th century. Based on this evidence, some scholars proposed a similar date for the Nagyszentmiklós inscriptions.

The inscription

The Buyla inscription is engraved in Greek letters on the inner bottom of a round buckled bowl (no. 21 in József Hampel's list), on a flat ring surrounding a lavishly decorated disk.

The inscription has the following text, easily readable, and uses a C-shaped glyph for sigma:

† ΒΟΥΗΛΑ·ΖΟΑΠΑΝ·ΤΕϹΗ·ΔΥΓΕΤΟΙΓΗ·ΒΟΥΤΑΟΥΛ·ΖΩΑΠΑΝ·ΤΑΓΡΟΓΗ·ΗΤΖΙΓΗ·ΤΑΙϹΗ

The lower case equivalent is:

† βουηλα·ζοαπαν·τεϲη·δυγετοιγη·βουταουλ·ζωαπαν·ταγρογη·ητζιγη·ταιϲη

The transliteration is:

† bouēla·zoapan·tesē·dugetoigē·boutaoul·zōapan·tagrogē·ētzigē·taisē

With vowels changed to Koine equivalents:

† buila·zoapan·tesi·dugetoigi·butaul·zoapan·tagrogi·itzigi·taisi

Paleographic and epigraphic considerations

Some of the letters of the inscription have distinctive shapes. The letters sigma and epsilon have broad arcs. The base line of delta juts out on both sides. Beta has also a prominent base line, a form found in the Greek inscriptions from Bulgaria dated to the early 9th century, but otherwise it is rarely attested in the Greek-writing world: only on several Cherson coins of the Byzantine emperor Basil I (867-886) and also on one inscription of the same emperor, found in Mesembria (today Nesebar, Bulgaria). The shape of alpha is also attested on the 9th century Greek inscriptions from Bulgaria. On the other hand, omega's unusual shape, with a middle vertical line higher than the rounded sides, is specific for the 6th century Greek inscriptions and the oldest forms of the Greek Uncial script.

Vowels

In this inscription there is a free alternation between ε and αι, η and ι, and ο and ω. These groups became homophones in Koine Greek, merging to , and . Also ου was read , υ was read , and οι was read either or .